


Tripping Over Each Other, But In A Good Way

by Mytay



Series: Adjust Orbit and Velocity [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23721682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mytay/pseuds/Mytay
Summary: In here lies all the awkwardly fluffy stuff that Keith and Lance stumble through in the early days of their relationship, as they figure out ... How does one romance? And how do two soldier buddies/super competitive dorks romance, specifically?(The answer, they find, is that it’s mostly the same as being best friends and rivals, with the added bonus of kissing a lot.)
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Adjust Orbit and Velocity [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/645575
Comments: 146
Kudos: 343





	1. Awkward Romantic Crap, The First

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These tales were first posted on [Tumblr](https://thisgirlhastales.tumblr.com/) three years back, and I decided to consolidate them here. In terms of timeline, they are sort of … loosely floating around after Lance and Keith get together in chapter five of [_Objects in Motion_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9157693/chapters/20797888), and overlap a little with chapter six. (You don’t have to read that tale to understand what’s going on here!) 
> 
> So, to start with: three years ago, an anonymous person on Tumblr was curious as to how the whole cutesy nickname challenge came about, and if Keith ever let Lance get away with one … Here is the answer, from [three years back](https://thisgirlhastales.tumblr.com/post/159571068168/question-does-keith-ever-actually-agree-to-a), with some additions ;)

******

**Awkward Romantic Crap, The First**

It took Lance and Keith about three weeks to settle into their status as “boyfriends.” 

After coming down from the high that was a romantic space ball, a magical night with duelling and dancing … Lance found he had _no clue_ how to be a boyfriend.

Zero, nada, nope. His handful of dates scattered between three separate girls did not count, and maybe he could claim Yana DeSouza as a relationship of sorts, except they’d been seven years old and they’d only lasted for ten days — right up until Dylan Lee gave Yana his favourite Tonka truck to woo her away.

So, for three weeks, Lance sort of floundered in awkwardness, like trying to hold hands but then changing his mind and pretending to pick lint off Keith’s jacket sleeve instead. 

Luckily, he wasn’t alone in all the ridiculousness — he watched with delight (and a little second-hand embarrassment), as Keith had moments with weird insult-compliments because he thought that maybe they shouldn’t fight anymore, at all? He’d start with, “Lance, you’ve gotta stop running your mouth …” Pause, blush or wince, then stammer on with, “Except, uh, it’s nice, sometimes, and I like looking at your lips saying stupid stuff?”

They got over this eventually, as they sat down for the first of many, _many_ talks; Lance told Keith that the fighting was to be expected, since they hadn’t changed as _people,_ and he mostly found their arguments worked for them as a kind of flirting, anyway. And he’d been sort of dying inside as he’d admitted the flirting thing, because then Keith was looking at him with this knowing, smug little smile, and Lance was once again cursing himself for being _so damn oblivious._

Yes, he’d been flirting with Keith for _months_ without even realizing it, or knowing that he actually _meant_ the flirting. Cut him some slack — he’d gotten with the hot boy in the end, hadn’t he?

Pidge and the others were so entertained by all their fumbling that many inside jokes developed as a result. (“ _Hey Pidge, you know I love you ‘cause I’m constantly grooming your clothes!” “Aw, thanks, Hunk, I think you’ve got a funny face, but it’s nice to look at it!”_ )

Lance fully expected their duties as Paladins would be a little different. _That_ talk ended up being the second one they’d had — and it went pretty smoothly, considering that neither of them were willing to jeopardize their all-important mission with relationship drama. The universe always had to come first, saving innocent people was the priority, and if … anything should go south between them, then, well … They had to preserve their friendship as much as they could for the sake of forming Voltron.

Lance could feel something in him break a little at that, but he accepted it. Keith reached out to hold his hand after that discussion, which made it a little better.

So the big, serious issues were dealt with swiftly, but then the most ridiculous, _normal_ stuff had them stumped.

Like, there was some awkward maneuvering during meal times. (Do they sit together? Across from each other?) Naturally, the rest of Team Voltron was highly amused, very supportive, and just the absolute _worst_. Case in point:

_Pidge: “Okay_ , _make up your minds, boys, at this point you’re both just playing musical chairs.”_

_Lance: “Bite me, Pigeon.”_

_Pidge: “Insert obligatory innuendo about your boyfriend here.”_

_Hunk: “Wow, Keith is really red now — nice one!”_

_Lance: “Hey, making Keith blush is totally my thing now! How dare!”_

_Keith: “Go sit by Coran, you prick.”_

And, first kiss aside, there was a lot of this: 

_“Um, Keith, can I kiss you now? Is this a kissing moment?”_

_“That was a pretty awesome shot you just made, so I think yes?”_

Also, too much of this:

_“Keith, is there some kind of rule for making-out? Do we just agree together that this couch is a make-out spot?”_

_“I don’t mind kissing you anywhere—I mean, anywhere on the Castle, not like, anywhere on you—not yet at least, and Lance, stop freaking laughing and kiss me, you asshole.”_

Not to mention, even after all their talking, they still had to negotiate where their _specific_ boundaries were during _super-important-Voltron-missions-and-meetings_ , as well as when they were just hanging out with the others during _casual-nobody-is-trying-to-kill-us_ times.

Gradually, they both became at ease with certain levels of PDA. They learned how to read each other’s wordless cues, and talk about other important things, like the _how_ and _when_ of personal space, how much time to spend in each other’s rooms, how much flirting was allowed during training, etc.

Almost a month had gone by at this point, and Lance was comfortable and _content._

Except that he _had to_ call his boyfriend something other than “Keith” or “Red.”

But when he let “babe” slip out, Keith immediately said, “Uh, no. Never say that to me again.” 

Lance took that as a _challenge,_ and started tossing increasingly _terrible names_ at him randomly and with much eyebrow waggling. Keith got annoyed, but he never took Lance aside to seriously ask him to stop, so Lance kept right on embarrassing him (and the others, second-hand), for about two weeks. 

And yes, the romantic nickname search was fifty percent of his enjoyment, but _blushing Keith_ was absolutely the other fifty percent of his motivation — even if half of these blushes were less _I’m-so-embarrassed_ , and more _next-time-we-spar-I’m-going-to-kick-your-ass_.

During their pirate encounter, Lance let “ _querido”_ slip out — partially deliberate, partially a natural fall back into his native language, but as soon as he said it, Keith had a very visceral reaction, and that was _it_. 

After that, Lance used _querido_ and _cariño_ all the time. After they’d been dating for even longer, _mi amor_ slipped in, too. And maybe, further down the road, _mi vida_ comes into play.

Point being, the awkwardness started to abate, bit by bit, the more willing Lance became to just let it all happen — and to appreciate each other’s screw-ups, because the _figuring things out_ part? That was actually really cool. And sweet. And so damn gratifying, especially as they pushed and pulled each other to be better, which made Lance so damn happy — because he could make _Keith_ so damn happy.

And that was the best part about being a boyfriend — seeing _his_ boyfriend find some measure of peace and happiness in this universe.

(Lance could not believe he’d neglected to use Spanish with Keith for _so long_ , especially considering that words of affection were the first he’d learned; they’d been said to him by his parents and older siblings since he was a baby. He starts speaking Spanish not only with Hunk to keep his first language alive, but with Keith now as well, to keep his boyfriend blushing.

And it was fun to whisper things into Keith’s ear, watching him turn pink, even when all he’d said was, “ _Darling, next time you use my face cream without asking first, I’m going to flush your fingerless gloves down the toilet._ ”)

******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was writing space cowboys, got stuck again, so I returned to the fluff. It seems to be a system that works, for all that it slows the overall process? Sorry y'all. *hugs*
> 
> Hope you can enjoy yet more ridiculous fluff, and if any of you are returning folks — thank you kindly yet again :) *even more hugs*


	2. Awkward Romantic Crap, The Second

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This [three-year-old mini tale](https://thisgirlhastales.tumblr.com/post/159780058333/so-im-really-curious-as-to-what-kind-of-awkward) was written when another anonymous person asked: what kind of awkward romantic stuff did Keith puzzle out when he and Lance first started dating? And, well, it was plenty awkward, but also sweet ;)

******

**Awkward Romantic Crap, The Second**

Keith adores Lance a stupid amount.

He spent several months contemplating (between the _denying_ and the _repressing_ , because _feelings why?_ ) the many ways he would kiss that loudmouth into silence, all the reasons he’d give him as to why he was wanted and valuable, not allowing Lance a single moment to doubt himself ever again. But now they were boyfriends, and Keith …

He just couldn’t find the _words._

So he tried with this one romantic gesture — he tried to get Lance flowers. 

Lance had no allergies (Keith sacrificed his dignity to ask Hunk), the flowers were normal and totally not flesh-eating (Keith gave up a little more pride to ask Coran for where to get a bouquet), and flowers were a thing couples did (according to Shiro, and by this point, Keith wanted to live inside Red and never face the team again).

The reason why this became Awkward Romantic Crap is because Keith just could not find a good timeto give them to Lance. 

There had to be some kind of special _boyfriend-sense_ he was lacking — it never felt _right_ to just suddenly give Lance flowers. He really didn’t want to do it in front of the others. His private time with Lance was hard to come by, and most of it they spent feeling out their relationship and having some truly humiliating (albeit necessary) talks about boundaries and rules.

The bouquet stayed in his room for a week, the special space blooms starting to droop. 

Until Lance knocked on the door, Keith said yes without thinking, without quickly (and gently) putting the vase in his closet. He panicked internally as Lance came in, rubbing the back of his neck, sheepishly asking if they could have a date-night on the observation deck couch … He went mute halfway through his question when he saw the flowers.

Silence for a few seconds.

Then, Lance cleared his throat. “Uh, who’s brought you flowers? Wait, was it that rebel with the Elvis hair? Keith, Keith did you bond with another mullet? Are you … Okay, I mean, no, I’m being dumb. You can get flowers from admirers, it’s fine. Just … you could have mentioned it? Do we have to talk about this kind of stuff, too? Or am I being, like, _possessive_ if I ask you to tell me? Oh god, am I a controlling boyfriend—”

Keith shut him up with a kiss ( _maybe_ this made his heart speed up in the most awesome ways, but that didn’t negate the strategic value for getting a word in when Lance was full-ramble).

Trying to keep the blush down and failing, he said quickly, “They’re for you. They were … I got them, a week back, and I just … I couldn’t figure out when to give them to you?”

“A week—were you hiding them whenever we were hanging out in here?”

Keith didn’t answer except to turn even redder, _damn_ his skin for being so damn obvious.

Lance wasn’t a silly jackass all of the time (though Keith actually found that silly jackass behaviour kind of fun and/or sweet because he was _doomed_ ), so he didn’t mock Keith at all — he just smiled and said, “Uh, you can give them to me now, if you want?”

Instantly, Keith reached over to the vase, pulling the flowers out, a few navy blue petals falling as he all but thrust them into Lance’s chest, the stems dripping water. “These are for you.”

“What’s the occasion?” Lance asked, pink blossoming along his cheeks, down his neck.

Keith watched that pretty blush, feeling less self-conscious now. “Just … just that I … I’m good with us. Now. And … happy. Because of you. So, thanks. For your existence.”

Lance’s face was doing a thing — Keith couldn’t tell if he was fighting back laughter or tears, but then two arms wrapped around his shoulders, bringing him into a soft yet lingering kiss, and nothing else mattered. Satin petals brushed against Keith’s face as Lance still gripped the bouquet tightly.

When they both pulled away, Lance was grinning, and Keith felt the last bits of awkwardness evaporate into thin air … 

Only to make an unwelcome comeback when his boyfriend started speaking again.

“Dude, would you have just _let my flowers die before you grew a spine and gave them to their rightful owner_? For shame, Red, _for shame.”_ He dragged the bouquet into the limited space between them. “Look at my precious babies! Did you change the water? You’re supposed to change the water, Keith, you can’t just—”

Keith crushed the flowers between their chests in order to gain access to that irritating (delicious) mouth. Lance wailed about his flowers even as their lips met again. Keith let Lance go long enough to get the flowers some fresh water, watching him carefully tend to the blooms that were still intact.

Then Keith dragged him in for more kisses — he was always better with actions than words.

Except flower-giving, apparently.

But Keith had learned that he _could_ do that kind of romantic crap, at least _once_. Better luck next time — he’d give them to Lance in front of everyone, come hell or high water, _damn it._

(And maybe, at some point in the future, Keith finds a few dark blue flowers pressed between the pages of an old Altean book Allura had given Lance for his birthday. 

Keith will blush again, cringe at the memory, and then kiss his boyfriend stupid when he walks through his bedroom door because he truly adores Lance a stupid amount. Lance always appreciates his awkwardness, sees his efforts as the most sincere gestures of love, and Keith can’t help but see any mockery that does come his way as endearing. 

So _doomed._ )

******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's rather fun to revisit these. I thought the baby fic had me at my worst in terms of fluff, but apparently the fluff had been in me for many years ;)
> 
> *hugs* Thanks again to any of you still reading along with this ridiculousness :)


	3. Interlude: That Time Keith Saved Lance From A Dozen Bounty Hunters and Their Pet Dinosaur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, this one happened because someone picked up this quote from chapter six of [_Objects in Motion_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9157693/chapters/20797888): “Lance, I actually fought off a dozen bounty hunters for you a month ago, and nearly lost an arm to that freaking pet dinosaur-thing of theirs.” [And they wanted to know what, exactly, happened there?](https://thisgirlhastales.tumblr.com/post/160488823703/lance-i-actually-fought-off-a-dozen-bounty)
> 
> It's pretty straight-forward, actually ;)

******

**_Interlude: That Time Keith Saved Lance From A Dozen Bounty Hunters and Their Pet Dinosaur_ **

Lance is tied to a tree, _again_ , for the second time in his career as a Paladin, and it’s not funny … Well, it’s a _bit_ funny.

But Keith isn’t laughing when he stealthily creeps in closer, rolling his eyes when Lance spots him and then immediately tries to act casual — by _casually_ widening his eyes and proclaiming:

“Hey dudes, I think I heard some kind of loud giant Lion coming from _that_ direction. Blue should be on his way. Wanna go catch him?”

Keith is tempted to throw a rock at Lance’s head, but since he does truly care about his boyfriend, and he definitely wants him back in one piece, he refrains. Barely.

The bounty hunters laugh at him, one large butch alien hollering, “Eh, boy, you’re only alive until we contact the Empire and get a pay day. But maybe they pay just as much for your corpse. Why don’t you keep your loud mouth shut and let us eat our dinner in peace, yeah?”

“You won’t be getting any leftovers if you don’t learn some manners,” chimed in a thin, leather-clad female, her hand stroking over the scaled skin of what looked like a baby T-Rex. But with wings. And arms that were not ridiculously short.

Considering that Lance was in this predicament because he’d wandered outside of the city limits —precisely what they were told _not to do_ by the Supreme Governor of the planet — Keith is tempted to let Lance sweat it out until everyone is asleep, and they can escape stealthily under cover of night.

But as he closes the distance between himself and Lance, he takes in the brutally tight chains wrapped around his boyfriend, the cut on his forehead, the bruise on his cheek, his split lip … Suddenly, Keith finds himself unsheathing his bayard, gritting his teeth as he glares out towards the crew of bounty hunters.

He counts them clinically, staring with narrowed eyes — twelve weapon-carrying aliens, and their winged dinosaur mascot thing … _No problem._

Keith had found Lance’s bayard tangled in some vines a mile back. He manages to sneak his way to the Blue Paladin’s tree, crouching behind it, out of sight, as he soundlessly picks the lock on the chains.

Lance goes completely still, hardly daring to move. When Keith gets the lock off, thereby enabling him to loosen the chains, Lance lets out a long, quiet breath. Keith gently squeezes the hands restrained behind the tree. Lance grips him in return. Keith pulls back and wraps Lance’s fingers around his blue bayard.

“Wait until I’ve got about half of them down — then move.” Keith tries to whisper this near silently, and so he’s not one hundred percent sure Lance hears him … But the Blue Paladin likely has a rough idea of Keith’s strategy; they know each other well, especially when it comes to battle.

Keith sneaks back around to the other side of the camp, and then situates himself behind one of the small ATV-looking vehicles. He moves fast, turning on the engine as he simultaneously hauls himself half into the front seat — gunning it right into the middle of the dining bounty hunters.

There’s screaming and guns firing as he launches himself off his improvised ride, knocking out two guys with one blow. He turns to cross blades with a female alien nearly twice his size; by the time he’s knocked out his fifth bounty hunter, he suddenly remembers the dinosaur.

Too late, since the beast has roared and plunged its teeth straight through Keith’s left arm.

His shield disappears as he screams in pain — and then there’s more laser fire as Lance starts unleashing a wave of blasts that find their targets in joints and hands and feet. Keith has beaten off the dinosaur and takes care of the last few bounty hunters with one hand. The gang lies either unconscious or dead at his feet. There is a brief, poignant ache in his heart before he closes his eyes and forces the stupid organ to understand this had been a _kill or be killed_ situation.

Silence falls in the woods.

Until Lance whoops and hollers, “Holy _crow_ , Keith that was _freaking amazing_. I barely— _oh my god, your arm_!”

“Lance, it’s fine,” Keith says through gritted teeth, even as Lance rushes over, his face pale.

“Uh, no, you are bleeding all over the damn place. _I think I can see bone! Oh my god, oh my—_ ”

Keith uses his good arm, the one that has just sheathed his bayard, to grab his boyfriend by the collar of his armour, and yank him into a kiss. This gets Keith some blessed quiet, and also reassures him that Lance is more or less okay. He was able to get up and fight with no problem, ramble without breathing, and is currently pressing his mouth to Keith’s like they’re every action couple in every cheesy explosion-filled movie that Lance adores … So, yes, Lance is fine.

Keith pulls back, smiling a little when Lance whines at their separation.

Lance rests his forehead against Keith’s temple; there’s another soundless beat as Keith realizes Lance is faintly trembling, and several more beats pass while the shaking gradually dissipates. Sometimes, Lance took a minute to register the aftermath of violence. Keith gives him all the time he needs, his eyes closed as they breathe in tandem.

Countless seconds later, Lance clears his throat and says, “Okay. Point made. But you need a few hours in the cryo-pod, like _stat_.”

“Probably,” Keith says, refusing to look down at his arm, which has gone alarmingly numb. “But first we have to get back to the city. You know, _the city we were not supposed to set foot out of_ _?”_

Lance grins sheepishly. “So I heard a rumour that there was a gorgeous beach just a short walk through the woods—”

Keith groans. “No, don’t want to hear it. Just drive us back into town so I can watch with great satisfaction as Allura and Shiro chew you out. And then as Hunk is all nice to you and makes you feel as guilty _as you should be_.”

Lance swoops in to steal one last kiss before helping Keith onto the ATV and then swinging up onto it himself.

Keith wraps his uninjured arm around Lance’s waist, and murmurs into the Blue Paladin’s ear, “If you try any fancy tricks —”

“Listen, _sugar pie_ , I’ve got precious cargo on here,” Lance says gravely, and doesn’t flinch when Keith tries to knee him in the back. “So you best believe I’ll be smooth as butter with _my_ stellar driving.”

Keith snorts, but holds back an insult as Lance revs the engine and begins a swift and uneventful journey back to town.

In the end, they _both_ get lectured — Lance for leaving the city limits, Keith for going after him without back-up — but the Supreme Governor somehow feels responsible for Keith almost losing an arm, so he arranges a full day at the beach that Lance had heard about. After spending twelve hours in a cryo-pod, his arm good as new, Keith gets to watch Lance swim and frolic in the sun. He gets to be pulled into crystalline waters, kissed beneath the waves, and fall asleep with Lance’s head on his chest, far-too-soft sand between their toes.

So maybe he’s not nearly as annoyed as he pretends to be later, but letting out his faux-irritation gets Lance teasing him, catering to him hand and foot, cooing over his no-longer injured arm …

All in all, it actually turns out to be a pretty damn awesome week for the Red Paladin, even with the dozen bounty hunters and dinosaur that almost ate him. He’ll cling to his wins whenever he gets them.

Which is probably why he’s never letting Lance go, ill-advised, idiotic trips to alien beaches and all.

******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fluff goes on and on :) *hugs* Thanks again, y'all, if you're still reading along. Trying for daily updates, since I've these already written — and they're pretty short, so editing them isn't time consuming. 
> 
> Maybe see you again tomorrow! :) *more hugs*


	4. Awkward Romantic Crap, The Third

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, so, another wonderful anonymous person asked me [what kind of things Lance and Keith do to make each other flustered](https://thisgirlhastales.tumblr.com/post/160060568743/heyo-so-i-was-curious-in-the-objects-in), particularly Lance, who had become pretty damn good at it by chapter six of _Objects in Motion._
> 
> Welp, I hope y’all like lame jokes and pick-up lines, ‘cause I remember that I had to research a lot of cheesiness for this ;)

******

**Awkward Romantic Crap, The Third**

Lance actually likes arguing with Keith.

He’d discovered this a while back, before they started going out. He’d talked about it with Keith when they were figuring out how to do the boyfriend thing …

Now arguing is _extra_ fun — there’s always a smile playing at the corner of Keith’s mouth, their insults are far more creative, playful, and most definitely more flirty. (Or at least, more _obviously_ flirty to Lance, because yes, he had been flirting before without realizing it, and Keith is never, ever going to let him live that down.)

What had blown Lance’s mind, not too long into their relationship, was the discovery that Keith _can_ flirt.And Lance is really, _really_ bad at hiding how much that gets to him. Which Keith _knows_ , so even if he’s kind of awkward about it sometimes, Lance _still_ blushes and stammers, and it’s _not fair._

That is, until, he discovers that he has his own power over Keith. And then _all bets are off._

“Man, that was a steep drop,” Keith complains, rubbing at his hip. “Pidge could’ve waited to turn the gravity back on.”

“Ah, angel, did it hurt?” Lance asks, grinning widely as he takes off his helmet, his hair damp and sticking to his forehead. “You know, when you fell from heaven?”

Keith gapes at him. “Really? _Really,_ Lance?” 

At the time, Lance chalks up the red flush in Keith’s cheeks to the wild fight they’d just been through, to the use of yet another silly nickname in Lance’s quest to find the perfect one. But _then,_ later on, in the kitchen …

It was too much fun to prompt that irritated look on Keith’s face, and so Lance holds Keith food up over his head, because he can, because that _one and a half extra inch_ of height makes a difference. Keith just glares at him, arms crossed. It’s too damn cute.

Lance winks, saying, “Listen, it’s important — I gotta tell you that if you were a fruit? You’d be a _fine_ apple.”

And then he presents Keith his bowl of pineapple flavoured goo with a wide, proud grin on his face.

Keith is _blushing_ while he snatches his food away and huffs his way to a table. Lance is _delighted._

_Oh, it’s on now._

_“Hey, Keith!”_ Lance calls across the hanger, after they’ve landed on a new planet for yet another diplomatic mission.

They’re dressed formally, and Keith looks especially nice (and hot, yep, Lance had a _hot boyfriend_ ) in simple Altean finery. He shoots Lance a quizzical look.

“ _You must be peanut butter because you make my legs feel like jelly.”_

Pidge and Hunk each take a turn smacking the back of Lance’s head as they pass by, but Lance is too happy watching Keith to care — his boyfriend looking even better while flustered and floundering for a comeback.

Keith complains about the nicknames, but the pick-up lines he rarely comments on. He just glares while blushing, or gapes as his ears go red, or tells Lance to _knock it off, we’re in the middle of a Galra base, holy crap, Lance, focus._

That changes when they’re sitting together on the observation deck’s couch, during one of their casual dates. Lance lights up as he remembers yet another fabulous line while staring at Keith’s feet resting on a pillow.

“Oh, hey, lemme tie your shoelaces!”

Keith sits up straight to stare at him. “What, my boots don’t have any—”

“’Cause I don’t want you falling for anyone else,” Lance finishes happily.

That familiar light dusting of pink starts at Keith’s cheeks, spreads to his neck and ears. Lance is laughing from pure enjoyment.

Keith blurts out, “Are you joking around, or … or do you actually mean it?”

Lance stops laughing. “Wait, what?”

“I mean, I get that you’ve always been … But now that we’re together, are you just, like … unable to break the habit, or something?” Keith drops his gaze to his lap, his indifference so exaggerated Lance could see through it in a second. “It’s fine, by the way, even funny sometimes, I just wonder—”

“Um, Keith, I don’t flirt with people I’m not attracted to?” Lance says, confused and somewhat alarmed. “A habit? … Yeah. Yeah it is. As in, I habitually flirt with the person I’m most attracted to in a room. And that’s always _you_. _”_

Keith lifts his head up, eyes wide. He’s _red,_ absolutely fire engine red, and Lance thrills at the sight, feels himself warming up as Keith blinks, stunned.

A few more blinks, then he says, in a hoarse voice, “ _Oh._ Okay.” He clears his throat. “They’re terrible lines.”

Lance smiles, honest and affectionate as he replies, “Yeah, but I mean every word of them. You are stupidly fine, you routinely give me weak knees, and I want you all to myself, so please ignore any number of charming aliens who might try to steal you away.” He wraps his arms around Keith, pulling him into his chest so he can kiss the top of his head. “I’ve always been kind of jealous of how cool you are, but now I’m also aware of how pretty you are, too, and it’s kinda unfair, dude. How dare you?”

“You’re the handsome one,” Keith mutters against Lance’s neck. “And you know it, jackass.”

Lance laughs into messy black hair. “Then trust me — it takes one to know one.”

Keith snorts and shifts in Lance grip. Somehow they’ve ended up reclined, Keith half on top of Lance, and he lifts himself up using his arms on either side of Lance’s shoulders. He looks down at him so fondly that Lance feels a pleasant ache start up in his chest. 

“Hey, Lance?” he says quietly.

“Yeah?”

“I was feeling a little _off_ today … But you definitely turned me _on_.”

Lance gawks at his boyfriend for what feels like a solid minute before he cracks up and drags him down by his shirt collar. It ends up with him wheezing as Keith crashes his full weight into him; Lance’s arm is weirdly pinned between them, but that doesn’t stop him from kissing the smile on Keith’s face, giggling into his mouth.

And he keeps on practicing his one-liners, his honest, no-holds-barred compliments and sweet promises, relishing each and every hitched breath from his boyfriend, until Lance is probably smooth enough to pick up any hot alien from here all the way back to Earth …

But Keith, Keith is the only person he ever wants to use his flirtations on because, as he tells his boyfriend one day: 

“You know, pudding-pop, you may not actually need a nickname …”

“Oh really? Does that mean this torture will end?” Keith flashes a quick teasing grin.

Lance winks back. “All I want to call you is _mine.”_

And there’s the blush, and the stutter, and nothing in the universe makes Lance as happy as charming the hell out of _his_ Red Paladin.

******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hm, I like a confident Lance sometimes, y'all, but I also like it when Keith gets back at his boyfriend ;)
> 
> Hopefully you all like this penultimate chapter! One more to edit and we're done :) *hugs* Thank you again to any of you reading!


	5. Awkward Romantic Crap, The Fourth (And The Slightly Less Awkward)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally written up on Tumblr three years ago, under the title: [_Keith works out, Lance ogles happily, Pidge tries to analyze the nature of their PDA … she swiftly regrets all the things._](https://thisgirlhastales.tumblr.com/post/158877155888/keith-works-out-lance-ogles-happily-pidge-tries) Once again, it takes place in those early days after Lance and Keith get together in [_Objects in Motion_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9157693/chapters/20797888) — after the space pirates, but maybe before that [horrific safety talk Shiro gives them ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12100743);)

******

**Awkward Romantic Crap, The Fourth (And The Slightly Less Awkward)**

“But seriously, if my calculations are correct — shut your mouth, Lance, they are _always_ correct — then Keith is initiating fifty-two-point-seven percent of the times you make me want to invent brain bleach.” Pidge pauses to push her glasses up her nose. “Keith, care to offer some insight into this?”

“No.” Keith resumes lifting weights, while Lance stares completely without shame at him, despairing a little.

Really, discovering the Castle’s weight room was one of the worst things that could have happened to Lance — now his boyfriend split his free time between training simulations and tossing around heavy things/running on treadmills. The Red Paladin had become a gym rat. The Blue Paladin was not surprised, but he was occasionally irritated at now competing with gym equipment for equal time under Keith’s hands. It often ended up with _him_ hanging in the gym.

(Which, Lance realized, both annoyed and amused, might’ve been Keith’s plan all along.)

Also, Keith didn’t need more muscles, as Lance didn’t need that kind of heart attack. Even if watching those biceps strain was … nice.

“My boo is just too hot to trot for my banging bod,” Lance says proudly, flexing his own (not quite as big but still very impressive) biceps.

Keith stops lifting weights so he can face-palm.

Pidge stares up towards the heavens in supplication.

Lance is incredibly proud of causing both those reactions.

“That’s going in my notes as one of the top five _worst_ things you’ve ever said. Maybe top three.” Pidge actually takes out her tablet to write it down.

Keith, with his face still buried in one hand, points with his other and says, “I don’t know if I can kiss that mouth at all today. That was horrifying.”

“Fifty-two-point-seven percent, _querido_ ,” Lance cheerfully reminds him. “Ain’t nobody buying what you’re selling.”

Keith shoots Pidge a long-suffering glance. “I mean, was the pining that bad, really? Would it be so terrible to go back to that?”

Lance has taken a seat directly across from Keith, lifting a set of weights (they were barbells with rock-shaped protrusions on either end — Coran had said something about how one could alter the density, thereby making them heavier/lighter, but Lance had immediately gotten distracted by challenging everyone to a weight lifting competition; somehow it ended with Hunk bench-pressing Lance and Pidge, and Shiro trying to throw Keith over their heads? Lance still doesn’t quite understand what happened there).

“I feel like the reason Keith is macking on me in public more often is because he’s kinda into the fact that _he can_ ,” Lance explains, grunting a little as he tries to mimic Keith’s moves. “I mean, the pining was so real. He had been staring lingeringly at me from afar for so long, and now it’s like, free pass to grope all the time.”

Lance winks at Keith, who is venturing to peek at him from between his fingers. “Because you do. Have a free pass. To grope. Put your hands any—”

“I know.” Keith lifts his weights with relative ease, a small smile pulling on his lips. “And yeah, Pidge. Maybe that’s part of it.”

“Part of it?” Lance asks, somewhat breathlessly, as he switches arms; his right one was starting to ache from the effort. “Dude. All of it. Your thirstiness is not to be denied.”

Pidge rolls her eyes, jotting down a few more notes from her perch on the jungle gym (a structure with actual vines for swinging and bouncy giant lily pads — Lance could not get over how cool Alteans were). Pidge levels Lance with an unimpressed look.

“Believe it or not, I actually came to that conclusion on my own. But Keith is now thirty-six-point-four percent more affectionate with everyone, not just you, Lance. Though obviously it’s a different kind of affection.”

“That’s … really sweet,” Lance says, feeling gratified.

The idea that he’s making Keith more willing to show his love to the rest of their space family … It’s a little humbling, and a lot of awesome. He can feel his cheeks heating up.

The weights Keith had been lifting are now on the floor as he walks over to Lance, lifting his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. Lance is grinning at the flash of a still slightly soft tummy (Keith has muscle definition, but there’s a small bit of cushiness around his middle that Lance really loves).

Lance _stops_ grinning when Keith suddenly drops into his lap, straddling him on the bench without any warning.

“You’re forgetting something key, Pidge,” Keith is saying, glancing over his shoulder at the Green Paladin, who is looking exasperated and entertained in equal parts.

“All right, enlighten me.” Pidge grimaces. “With as little trauma as possible, if you please.”

“I think I’m gonna expire in a minute here, mi hermanita querida, would you please spare me the humiliation and not witness this? Keith, whatever it is that you’re thinking—”

Keith covers his mouth with one hand, and Lance tries to speak past it, uselessly yelling his objections into the palm of a fingerless glove.

“See, notice how he can still talk?” Keith tilts his head in Lance’s direction, speaking with infuriating calm. “It’s a bit of a problem sometimes. But—”

The hand is gone. Lance is pissed off enough to start shouting, “Hey, you jackass, wait till I—”

Keith’s lips are on his. His mouth falls open automatically, and Lance sort of loses the thread of … reality. Pidge whips them both in the head with a towel, which is when his wondrous boyfriend pulls away, leaving Lance gaping, licking his lips, and contemplating if he should still be irritated.

“Efficient, no?” Keith asks, his dark eyes glinting.

Pidge is glaring at him. “Except for the brain bleach aspect. Which I am going to go work on now. With Hunk’s help. He is one hundred percent behind me on this. There are cameras in here, by the way, not that that’s ever stopped you …”

She gets up and walks out, pausing just before exiting to ruffle Lance’s hair and say, “You’re such a goner, _hermano_.”

When she’s gone, and Lance is left with nothing but a smug Red Paladin sitting on his thighs, he huffs, jabbing at Keith’s chest. “So you’re kissing me to shut me up most of the time?”

“Not most of the time,” Keith admits, his smirk easing back into a smile. “But Pidge would have probably gagged if I told her the main reason.”

“It’s not the ‘can’t resist my stellar good looks’?” Lance pouts. “That’s a little disappointing.”

Keith presses a quick kiss to his mouth. He’s flushed from exercise, but Lance swears his cheeks get a little bit darker as he speaks, “It’s because half the time I think I’ve made up this whole stupid thing, okay? We got together at a _freaking ball_. There was a _duel_ involved. And _dancing in fancy suits_.” He waves his hands around for emphasis before crossing his arms. “And we still argue like … It’s fine, but it feels like before sometimes, so I just … need to make sure it’s not. Like before.”

Lance follows these words until he understands where they’re leading, and then … He’s blushing, and smiling, and pulling Keith in closer.

“You … you need to make sure this is real. That you didn’t … dream it. Because … I’m that good of a dream, huh?”

Keith groans, burying his face in Lance’s shoulder. “Crap. Okay, backtrack, I never said anything, especially not that stupid, sugary pile of—”

“No, no take-backs!” Lance sings. Then he feels his own smug expression fade into something softer. “I … sometimes have the same problem. So, uh, a good chunk of my forty-seven-point-three percent contribution is exactly that.” He smiles up at Keith once the Red Paladin pulls back and sits up straighter in Lance’s lap.

“Yeah?” Keith leans down, his eyes fluttering shut.

“Yeah,” Lance whispers against his mouth …

Which is when a painfully loud alarm goes off, and they are simultaneously soaked in freezing water as sprinklers kick in.

Lance shrieks. Keith falls backward off his lap to the now slippery floor.

“You have rooms. Go get in one!” Pidge yells over the Castle comm.

“Please!” That sounded like Shiro’s voice, a little distant from the microphone.

Lance is laughing and shivering, and Keith is back to being visibly mortified, but they adhere to Pidge’s wishes (who knew what she might pull next? Lance wouldn’t put it past her to space them at this point), and they both take off running. Keith yanks Lance into the gym’s showers.

“No cameras in here,” Keith says, raising an eyebrow with … a highly significant stare towards the stalls and then back at Lance. “And I need a shower anyway.”

Lance is rendered speechless. He wonders if this counts as part of Keith’s fifty-something percent of PDA. He wonders if Pidge is all-knowing.

And then there’s a shirt coming off, and warm water pouring from a shower head, Keith kicking off his shoes from inside the cubicle. Lance can’t think as Keith’s hands reach for his shorts … and then pause.

“Yeah, so you just wait right here — you can take your turn when I’m done.” Keith grins and slams the shower door in his face.

Lance wonders if there’s a way to flush a toilet on a space castle to turn the water into a frigid torture. He says as much out loud, kicking lightly at the door.

Keith is laughing, and Lance may or may not adore that sound more than any other in the universe — it’s in his top three, for sure …

So, he decides to wait until the Red Paladin is done and then do his best to up his percentage. Forty-seven-point-three percent simply will not do, Lance thinks to himself with a goofy smile. He can absolutely win at this, and like many of the things he and Keith used to compete at for their rivalry …

Nowadays, the competitions and outcomes were far, far _more_ enjoyable, and usually resulted in far, far _better_ ways of spending their energy. Honestly, they'd had chemistry from the start — and for all that Lance regretted his previous inability to _see_ it for what it was … It also made him all the more thankful for the gift that Keith was, in his life, exactly like _this._

And if they keep bickering their way through this war, making each other laugh, striving to be better for each other and the universe at large, accepting the flaws that might be integral parts of them, forever, then Lance thinks that perhaps, percentages and dissertations aside …

Together? … They could just _be happy._

******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah, such fluff! *scrunches up face* 
> 
> And now that this is done, I might just add it to the end of the whole [_Adjust Orbit and Velocity_ series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/645575) and call it finished for now? I do have a couple more ideas for that 'verse, but I'm not sure if or when I'll get around to them. I think is a nice place to leave it, and if I choose to add more, I can :)
> 
> *hugs* *so many hugs* To any of you still reading, my thanks! It's been a rough few days, and your comments/kudos had me smiling. Thank you, thank you :)


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